Friday, January 23, 2009

A little over a month ago I posted the first pictures of the new cubs named Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. The mother is Navajo and her lineage is American Presidents. Soon after I got the first and only pictures, the cubs were moved to the communal den. Unfortunately, the communal den for the Talek West clan has been hidden deep in the bushes. Recently the communal den has moved to a place a little more visible and I was able to finally see Barry and Ronny again.

A few weeks ago we also found the den for the Fig Tree clan. There are three new cubs in this den. Fluffy is the mother of one cub and her lineage is Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream flavors. After looking through the flavor list, I decided to name this one Vermonty Python. Tracy is the mother of the other two cubs at the den. This is her first set of cubs, so I got to choose a new theme for her lineage. For over a year now, Leslie and I have wanted to start a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters lineage. We can't actually use the ninja turtles names, because the Italian artists lineage took care of those names. However, the names for these two cubs are probably the best names in the history of hyenas in my opinion. Here are the first pictures of Master Splinter and The Shredder. Sorry Kay, the names were absolutely too perfect for a hyena not to use them.

One of the favorite hyenas of many hyena researchers past and present has been sitting on a natal den for about 3 weeks now. We know she is hiding cubs inside the den hole. Despite stopping at the den everyday, we have not yet seen the cubs. The mother is named Gucci and her cubs are named after Italian foods. Tortellini and Ravioli have already been used. We arer open to suggestions if any blog readers have a favorite Italian food.

Help Support the Research

You can help support our research by making a donation to the Hyena Research Fund at MSU. Your contributions provide necessary resources for the students and scientists to continue our work. Use the link below to make a donation or contact MSU for additional details.